I Will Fall
by kindofobvious
Summary: During Brando and Sylvie's wedding two unlikely conspirators decide to break the cycle that is the Zoe and Wade story. Zoe/Wade with everyone else thrown in.
1. A Poem On The Underground Wall

**I Will Fall**

**A Poem On The Underground Wall**

Vivian watched as her grandfather Brando danced with his newly wedded wife Sylvie Stevens now Wilkes. They seemed so happy and she was sure that their love, their relationship, was a good thing, terrific even. She was against it at first, trying to protect Brando from potential heartbreak. But what's meant to be is meant to be. So now she was sitting at the bar, sipping a cocktail at Sylvie and Brando's wedding.

Her gaze wandered to the right and stopped at the sight of her cousin (well in a large family like the Wilkes everyone about your age, who wasn't a sibling, was a cousin) and her ex-boyfriend dancing, if one could call it that. It looked more like swaying. Zoe was talking and Wade looked down at her somewhere between astonished and confused by her words.

Vivian observed them closely, something was odd about the scene playing out in front of her. She just couldn't put her finger on what exactly. She took another sip of her cocktail while looking at Wade. She was sure, that moving to Baton Rouge with Charles had been the right thing to do, but ever since Wade had told her exactly that, she was asking herself, how she had managed to leave him the way she did. How she had managed to hurt the most selfless and forgiving person she knew. How she had managed to be so selfish, to leave with Charles to go house hunting without even telling him, to let her cousin pick up the pieces. And by that, by not being able to face him, to tell him in person that she had chosen Charles, she had stained Zoe's and Wade's new found friendship. She had caused him so much more pain than necessary, just because she was afraid or rather part of her was certain, that if she had told him face to face, looking into his mesmerizing eyes, she would have caved. She would have done the wrong thing, stayed with him instead of giving her family a second chance in Baton Rouge.

Her gaze wandered to Zoe. Her cousin wasn't wearing any shoes, abandoned them some time after the ceremony, like half of the female guests. Vivian's eyes set on Zoe's face again. She was still talking to Wade, or rather telling him something, her eyes oozing with confidence and was that love? Vivian wasn't sure. Did her cousin just looked at both their ex-boyfriend with love? That didn't make any sense at all. Vivian watched as Zoe spoke her final words and then walked away without looking back.

Vivian focused on Wade again. He seemed confused, stunned even, but there was something like hope, the certainty that everything will be fine, lingering in his soft smile. All of this didn't make any sense to Vivian, it was odd. And she desperately wished that she could have listened to their conversation.

Once again she let her eyes wander, to the left this time, over a very in love looking Brando and Sylvie to Annabeth and Joel. She couldn't see Annabeth face, Joel, however, was grinning like a Cheshire cat as his eyes wandered between Wade and the door Zoe had just left trough. This just added to the oddness and Vivian was more confused than ever. Somehow her eyes locked with Joel's and he must have noticed her confusion, because he whispered something into Annabeth's ear and walked over to Vivian.

Joel positioned himself on the bar stool next to Vivian. They both looked at the spot, where just moments ago their exes had been dancing. Vivian still confused, not being able to put her finger on what just happened and Joel kind of proud, uncharacteristically smug even.

Joel gave a final nod to the door Zoe had just left trough and turned to Vivian. "What do you know?". She looked at him, head slightly tilted. "About?". "Zoe and Wade". She swallowed, "they've dated and now they're friends?" It was supposed to be a statement, but came out a question as Vivian realized while speaking, this was about more than friendship. That dance wasn't one between friends.

Joel patted her shoulder and ordered two shots of whiskey. He silently handed her one and motioned for her to drink. She obeyed. "They're totally in love". When she just looked at him confused, he clarified, "with each other", and handed her the second shot of whiskey, which she downed immediately.

"They're what now?". He answered with that same look on his face Harley had when she and Charles told him, that all three of them were moving to Baton Rouge together. "Totally in love. Always have, always will. Well maybe not always always. Since they've first met perhaps, definitely since that magical first night. But of course they both didn't know back then." He started to ramble, excited like a schoolgirl telling her best friend about her first crush.

Now it was Vivian's turn to order shots of whiskey. She handed him one. "Drink!" it was a soft command, "and then start again!". He did as he was asked and took the whiskey shot, but instead of starting to tell her the story again, maybe a bit more structured, he just asked, "You heard about Meatball's wedding?" She nodded.,"thought they didn't get married?" He nodded and gave her a questioning look. She continued, "and I heard something about an unexpected and unconventional declaration of love, but I didn't catch whose." He gave her a pointed look. "Oh. Wade declared his love for Zoe?" she asked quite shocked and downed another whiskey.

"What? No! That was last year. Zoe declared her love!" He got that schoolgirl look on is face again as he continued. "They're kind of poetic, you know. Moving forward in cycles. One year cycles to be precise." She still looked at him with a lot of unanswered questions on her mind. He took the whiskey bottle the bartender had just left on the counter so they could pour their own drinks and poured another two handed her one and toasted, "to poetic exes". She went along with it "to poetic exes".

Once they finished their drinks, Joel continued. "First year. The day of Lemon and George's wedding, well not-wedding. Massive storm and after two mayor fights over the last weeks, complete with not speaking to each other and all, Wade and Zoe got caught in a barn and well admitted their sexual attraction to each other. And then later than night she called him over and well magical night and all. I'm not gonna get into so much detail about that." "Appreciate that." He nodded in acknowledgment and continued, "so second year. After lots of ups and downs. Biggest down being Wade cheating on Zoe." She gave him a shocked look and he poured another round of drinks. "I know, seems kind of out of character doesn't it?" She nodded and they drank. " Well anyway, they broke up, Zoe slipped and slept with him again and then left to attend a wedding in New York, but somehow Wade tracked her down somewhere across Alabama and told her he loved her. But Zoe left for New York stayed five months and came back with me. I guess you know the rest. Oh, wait. Third year, Wade was about to move to Atlanta. Zoe gets a 24 hour hiccup and Lemon makes her realize she loves Wade. Zoe tells Wade in a kind of cute but awkward way at Meatball's not-wedding. And here we are now" he finished looking at Vivian, who just looked right back at him, still slightly confused. "How do you know all of that?" "Well after Zoe told Wade, Wade kind of didn't take it that well and just walked right out of the Rammer Jammer. Zoe didn't take that so well, so I took her home and she told me their story." "Ah, well. And how exactly do you know that Wade still loves Zoe?", Vivian asked curiously. "I'm a writer. I know that kind of stuff. He's just held back by some trust issues with women he developed in the past year". Joel handed Vivian another drink. "Kind of my fault those trust issues." "Partly. Zoe leaving the way she did and returning with me probably didn't help matters much." "Probably."

They toasted again, "to giving your ex trust issues!" "Hey! I never did that!".

**xXx**

An empty whiskey bottle and a more detailed description of the poetic Zoe and Wade story, delivered with a lot of passion and drunken arm swaying, later, Joel and Vivian were still sitting at the bar, now doing shots of water, because the barkeeper had denied them any more alcohol.

"You know, what the best part of the story is?", Joel laughed. "No. Tell me!" "When I moved down here with Zoe, I was kind of worried being the act two guy." "But you were!", Vivian pointed out. "I know. It's kind of ironic really." "Why?" "Because I thought the whole time that George is the act one guy. Boy, how wrong was I?" "Totally wrong." "Totally wrong, indeed. And I should have seen it. I'm a writer, I know that kind of stuff. And the signs were all there. I just didn't put them together." He laughed at his own blindness and stupidity. "She was so jealous of Lemon and you. It was hilarious. Really hilarious. And how she didn't want me to be friends with Wade. I should have known. I'm a writer." He once again shook his head in slight amusement about his obliviousness and poured two more shots. He handed one over to Vivian and they both drank.

Suddenly Joel started to wriggle in his seat and almost spat out some of the water he was drinking. He more or less jumped of his seat and uttered rather loudly "Wade!". Joel tried to hug Wade as he approached the unlikely drinking buddies. "Joel!" Wade copied him, while gently pushing Joel back to his seat. "And Vivian", he nodded at her before turning his attention back to Joel. "Why are you getting drunk with my ex-girlfriend?" "I'm not" Joel defended himself and Vivian added, "he's not" while pointing at the water bottle on the counter. "Okay then" Wade said looking from Joel to Vivian, back to Joel and then to the bartender, who simply raised the whiskey bottle Joel and Vivian had emptied earlier. "Well I better let you two sober up then", he patted both of them on the shoulder in a mixture of support and sympathy.

"Wade!" Vivian almost cried as she caught his wrist and pulled him towards her. When he was close enough she hugged him from her sitting position. "I want you to be happy, Wade!". Joel jumped of his seat and joined the hug, "I want you to be happy, too." "Well, thank you both", Wade uttered whilst awkwardly trying to free himself. "I promised Annabeth a dance. I'm going to dance with her now. Very happily." He walked away shacking his head, half in amusement and half in confusion about what had just happened.

Joel put his arms around Vivian's shoulder and they both turned back towards the bar. "I just had a realization" Joel slurred, "they're not getting back together til next may. It's in the cycle." "No, we can't let that happen!" "No we can't. Vivian Wilkes would you like to be a poet with me? Rewriting the Zoe and Wade ballad?" "Yes! Lets do this." They toasted once again "to being a poet".


	2. Closing Time

**Thanks everyone for reading and special thanks to those who reviewed. I'm glad you liked it. Here comes chapter two. It was originally part of chapter one. So don't get used to the quick upload. Happy reading!**

**I Will Fall**

**Closing Time**

Wade slowly walked over to Annabeth still shacking his head. "Hey! Wanna dance?", she asked. "Yeah, but we've got to do it happily." Annabeth tilted her head in confusion. Wade nodded towards Joel and Vivian, who were now snatching something from behind the bar. "Apparently everybody wants me to be happy." Annabeth nodded and said, "I'm glad you're staying". She looked him deep in the eyes and added, "you know someday you're gonna be happy." "So are you," he took her hand and led her to the dancing area. "I know," she smiled at him.

After they danced for a while, both caught deep in their own thoughts, Wade smirked at her, "you know, if everything fails, there's always you and me." He suggestively raised an eyebrow and she playfully slapped his chest. They both laughed until Annabeth turned serious again, "she really loves you. Don't doubt that." Wade shifted uncomfortably, "can we not go there tonight?". "Okay," she gently kissed his cheek and added, "but just so you know, I know you love her, too". Wade chuckled as they continued to dance.

They had been dancing for while, when they suddenly heard a loud thud. They both turned around in order to see what caused the noise. When they saw Joel pulling Vivian back on her feet, they hurried over there. As soon as they arrived, Wade accused, "You are getting drunk together," he pointed between them and then grabbed the bottle of champagne and raised it as if to proof his point. Vivian and Joel both opened their mouth to say something, but then closed them again without saying anything.

It was Annabeth who spoke next, "why are you two getting drunk anyway? This is your grandparents' wedding. Aren't you supposed to be happy?". "We are. We are , in fact, celebrating", Vivian said and straightened out her dress. "And what exactly are you celebrating?",Wade asked slightly annoyed. Vivian and Joel glaceed behind them to some piece of paper laying on the counter and then back at Wade. Joel leaned towards Wade and patted him on the chest and said slowly and in a drunk manner, "poetry, my friend. We're celebrating poetry."

"Poetry?" Wade and Annabeth uttered in unison. Joel and Vivian nodded enthusiasticly. Wade caught glimpse of the paper behind them and tried to snatch it, but he was stopped by Vivian and Joel uncoordinatedly slapping his hands away. "It's secret poetry," Joel explained while Vivian grabbed the paper and stuffed it into her bra looking rather smug. Wade and Annabeth just looked at each other confused. "Okay then," Annabeth said, "maybe we should get you two home? Away from all the excitement poetry apparently provides."

"I don't think those two should be alone tonight," Wade whispered towards Annabeth, "or worse together." "I think you might be right," she whispered back. Wade looked at Vivian, who tried very hard not to fall down again. "I take her over to Zoe's," he told Annabeth and she nodded. "I try to sober him up a bit," she nodded towards Joel. "Okay, I'll come back and get him later".

**xXx**

After a epicly failed attempt to let her walk by herself and a not much more successful try to help her walk by putting his arm around her waist, Wade was now caring Vivian piggy-bag style towards Zoe's carriage house. Normally he preferred carrying women bridal style, but he didn't feel that that was appropriate given that he was caring his ex-girlfriend, who just moved out of state to give her ex-husband another shot, towards the house of the woman, who had just confessed her love to him. While the light cold breeze hit his face he asked himself how he had ended up in such a messed up situation. Caring one of his ex-girlfriends to another one of his ex-girlfriends' house in the night he was supposed to eat at a fancy restaurant with some investors. He didn't really know. When had his life became a soap opera consisting of love triangles and weird carrier opportunities? His gaze wandered towards the carriage house, which just stood there in the distance emitting a light glow. His thoughts were cut short when Vivian started to move. She tightened her grip around him, hugging him from behind. "Wade!", she whispered, "don't let a chance at love and happiness pass, because of " she trailed of. She fought hard to find the right words, words she was sure wouldn't be easy to find without whiskey and champagne clouding her mind. But maybe a whiskey and champagne cloud could provide the courage to actually say them, maybe not in a perfect speech given that her words were slurred, and maybe she won't remember saying them tomorrow, but that didn't mean they would carry less meaning, less sincerity.

"Because of" she started again, "because of what I did. How I left. It was mean and horrible and weak and selfish." She hugged him tighter. "And I am really sorry." What she said next took all the courage she had, "but everything else would have been the wrong thing. For me and for you." Somehow those worlds set them free. They were the final step to closure, for both of them.

Those words were like a falling curtain, they both were now able to see what their relationship had been about.

It was a step, a step to grow as a person, a step out of their comfort zones. A not exactly desperate attempt to bury the pain their former breakups had provided. A safe spot, because deep down they both knew all along that what they had weren't meant to last. Ultimately it was a step back to their exes, and at the same time their relationship had provided them both with the knowledge, that they could make it work, that they were able to live, to live happily, even though their hearts longed for something out of their reach. And this knowledge provided them both with the certainty that there were going to be okay, no matter how things may turn out.

**xXx**

Zoe sat on her bed, her notebook on her lap and she read some article in a medical journal, when she heard someone entering the carriage house and calling out, "doc, I've got something for you". She jumped of the bed and hurried to the door, that divided her bedroom from the hallway.

"Wade?", she asked confused, while opening said door. "Yeah, among others," he answered. She looked at him for a second before realizing, that he was caring a woman on his back . She took a closer look. "Is that Vivian?", she asked concerned. "More like a very drunk version of her, but yeah, this is Vivian," he answered while entering her bedroom. She closed the door and followed him to the bed, where he gently laid a sleeping Vivian down.

"Care to explain?" she gestured towards her cousin and looked him in the eyes. "I would, if I could," he shrugged. "Come on! You must know something." He walked over to her couch and sat down, waiting for her to do the same. She did and he started to talk, "Look, things got really weird after you left. Somehow Viv and Joel got drunk together and celebrating secret poetry or something." She looked at him more confused by his explanation that she had been by the situation itself.

"I don't know much more either. It's just that AB and I thought, it would be better for them not to be alone tonight or together at the Whippoorwill Blossom. So I brought her here." "Okay," she looked back at Vivian, who was snoring lightly in her bed, "you think she's okay?" "Yeah, just drunk, really drunk." Zoe nodded. She didn't know what to say anymore. It wasn't like her cousin to get that drunk, especially at Brando's wedding.

Wade shifted and attempted to get up, but Zoe caught his arm and asked ,"wait, where are you going?" He fell back on the couch and said, "back to Lavon's. Gotta get that ex-boyfriend of yours over to my place." He nodded towards the bed, "he's not much better of than she is." Wade succeeded getting up this time. He held out a hand to pull her up and she gladly accepted, happy about any physical contact he offered.

"I better get going," his voice just above a whisper, as he let go off her hand. She stood there paralyzed for a few seconds and watched him walk away. She called out his name, when he reached the door and hurried after him. She didn't know why she did that, though. She really didn't have anything else to say to him in that situation, yet she desperately wanted him to stay a little longer, even if it was only for a few seconds.

"See you tomorrow at breakfast?" It was desperate and awkward and she knew it and judging by his smug grin so did he. "See you at breakfast, doc". She smiled at him and he left.


	3. Brand New Day

**Thanks again for reading and rewiewing. The scenes in this chapter may seem like they don't make so much sense, but it'll come together in the end. I promise. And here comes a little preview. The first chapter with the focus on direct Wade/Zoe interaction will be chapter five. I'm kind of sorry for that, but not really, because I felt there are things that had to be cleared out first. **

**I enjoyed writing this chapter, especially the first part. So I hope you enjoy reading it.**

**I Will Fall**

**Brand New Day**

The smell of fresh coffee mixed with something else, something smelling rather unpleasantly, filled the air. George open his eyes slowly, because he could already feel the throbbing hang over headache forming in his head. He felt something lying next to him. Something human. It was a person. George turned his head to face the person that he apparently had shared a bed with last night. He didn't know where he was or how he ended up here, but one thing was for sure, he definitely drank too much last night. He fell off the bed, when he realized, that the one and only Don Todd was sleeping next to him.

"You're okay, G Tuck?", he heard a familiar voice ask. "Tom? Is that you?". George lifted himself up to a sitting position rubbing his temples as he now had a full blown headache. "Yeah, want some coffee?" Tom walked towards him, holding out a hand to help him off the floor. George took it and was pulled on his feet. He had some trouble standing and when Tom gently walked him towards a small dining table, his knees were wobbly. Tom pressed him down on a chair and placed a cup off coffee in front of him. George took a sip and then asked Tom, "what happened last night?" Tom glanced over to the bed, George had just fallen off, and answered, "crazy things, lots and lots of crazy things". George followed his gaze to the bed and felt a massive wave of nausea hit him, when he saw, that next to Don Todd there was another person sleeping in the bed. That certainly explained why he had been lying so close to the edge.

"Tom, why did I sleep in the same bed as Don Todd and Lavon?" "I didn't fit in anymore, so I slept on the couch", Tom said with a face that indicated, that he was lost in memories of the last night. "Tom!" George sighed. Tom was about to say something when they heard a deep growl coming from the bed. They watched as Lavon slowly pulled himself up, looking at his unidentifiable surroundings.

"Coffee?", Tom offered. Lavon grunted and got up. He walked over to the table Tom and George were sitting at. He sat down and supported his aching head with his hands. "What happened last night?", after a moment he added, "and where are we?". "We are at a motel in Mobile," Tom stated and then continued shaking his head slightly, "I can't believe I played table golf with Don Todd. Best Weekend of my life." "Tom!", both Lavon and George sighed.

Tom who finally seemed to realize, that his friends wanted to know why they were so hung over, started to narrate, "okay, okay! It all began, when you two walked out off the harbor together, because apparently you both want to be with Lemon, but unfortunately the ship had already sailed. So, we all went to get some friendly beers. Then after you two had a couple of beers and maybe some shots, you started this weird competition."

He pulled a dirty piece of paper out of his pocket and laid it on the table, "like who gets the most phone numbers in ten minutes, beer drinking competition, wine tasting, too. Most straws in mouth. Who can flirt longer with the bartender, that one was really good, because all the bartender were men, straight,too. Table golf. Coin flipping. All sorts of things, really." George and Lavon looked at him confused and simultaneously asked ,"but why?" Tom started to wriggle awkwardly in his seat, "kind of in order to figure out who gets Lemon." Tom pushed the piece of paper towards them and said "it's a tie, though". Both Lavon and George simply took a large sip from their coffee and groaned.

**xXx**

Zoe entered the kitchen, she was still in her pajamas. Wade was standing behind the stove dressed in his boxers and a white shirt. She bit her lip at the sight of him, he was whistling some tune she couldn't recognize and it seemed that he hadn't heard her coming in. She observed him for a moment and then sat down at the counter making noise on purpose. Without turning around he greeted, "morning, doc! Want some hang over breakfast?" She answered raising her eyebrows, "I'm not the one with the hang over." "Neither am I", he turned around and sat a plate in front of her, before placing a plate for himself and sitting down. "I take it Vivian is still sleeping?" She nodded staring at her food.

She didn't really know how to handle this new situation she had put them in. She was determined to fight for him, for their love, their future, but when she said those things to him yesterday, she hadn't planned out how that would actually look like. She glanced over at him. He was shewing his food staring into the distance, so he didn't know how to handle this either. Somehow that comforted her a bit.

"Did you talk to Joel about why they were drunk?" Maybe concentrating on their exes' drunk encounter could serve as a save conversation topic. It worked last night until she opened her mouth, even though there was nothing left to say. "Talk? Doc, that's aiming a bit to high." She laughed a little, and so did he. "I tried to, though, when I dragged him over to my place." She looked at him curiously and asked, "and?" "And he rambled something about being a poet and breaking the cycle. Whatever that means." He shrugged and snatched a piece of bacon from her plate. She smiled, if there was one thing she could rely on, it was him snatching food from her plate.

**xXx**

Zoe and Wade had long left the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess that Sylvie and Brando's wedding had left at Lavon's east wing, when Joel entered. His head was killing him and he was glad that Wade had fixed his famous hang over breakfast and went to get himself a plate and some coffee. He sat down and was about to start eating when the door slowly opened. Vivian walked in, looking around carefully. "Zoe or Wade in here?", she whispered. "No", Joel whispered back, even though that was completely unnessary. "Good", Vivian sat down beside him and planted the piece of paper she had stuffed into her bra yesterday on the counter. "You remember?", she nodded to the pretty beat-up looking piece of paper. "Surprisingly yes, yes I do." Joel said slowly, sipping his coffee. "I've read it again and it's not that bad of a plan." Vivian walked towards the stove.

"So are we really doing this?" Joel asked carefully. Vivian nodded slowly, "a few adjustments here and there and it could actually work." There was a moment of absolute silence. It was broken by Vivian shoving food on a plate and pouring coffee into a mug.

"Lets do this, then" Joel exclaimed exited after Vivian sat down next to him. "Let's do this," they high-fived, but regretted that seconds later as they both rubbed their foreheads and groaned in pain. "First adjustment," Joel said, "adding point zero: getting rid of hang over." "Sounds like a good plan to me", Vivian agreed and continued, "good thing, Wade made hang over breakfast." "Tell me about it," Joel smiled at her and they both started to eat.

They ate slowly and mostly in silence, each of them concentrating to reduce their headaches by sheer willpower. Naturally, that did not work out so well. So when they heard a teasing voice speaking slightly to loud on purpose, they both growned.

"Well, well. Look whose finally up. Bluebell's very own Shakespeare and Simone de Beauvoir," Wade walked towards them, shaking his head in amusement. Both Vivian and Joel looked at him confused. "You know who Simone de Beauvoir is?", Joel asked shocked. "Obviously I do," Wade responded slightly offended. "But how?" "Lily Anne," Wade shrugged and then pointed towards the stove, "you done eating?" Joel and Vivian nodded, still wondering how Wade gained knowledge of Simone de Beauvoir.

Wade moved towards a cupboard and took out a container. He filled it with the leftovers, closed it and then opened the refrigerator. He took out two bottles of water and walked back to Vivian and Joel, placing the bottles on the counter and said, "hang over is dehydration, basically . So drink and feel better." He took the leftover container and headed towards the door.

"Wade!", Joel called after him, "where are you going?" Wade turned around, raised the container and answered, "Earl's. Gotta tell the old man his favorite son is staying in town." He started to walk away while speaking and with his last word he closed the kitchen door.

"You think they're going to hate us?"Vivian asked suddenly concerned. "Not for long, because it'll work." "What makes you so sure?" "because we're just speeding up the process and if our first attempt fails, we try again," Joel stated matter of factly and Vivian just agreed, "okay. But maybe we should work out the details of our first mission, before we think about the second?" "Maybe," Joel grinned, "lets work on some details and get this thing started!". Joel put the piece of paper, he had hidden as soon as Wade had entered the kitchen, back on the counter.


	4. Give a Hand, Take a Hand

**So here comes chapter four. It's mostly Zoe/Vivian. And I think, by the end of this chapter you will know, what Vivian and Joel are up to. So enjoy reading and if you want to you can make me a little bit happier by reviewing.**

**I Will Fall**

**Give a hand, take a hand**

"Oh, hey Zoe!", Vivian greeted when Zoe entered the carriage house, "I hope you don't mind. I borrowed some of your clothes.""That's okay." Zoe smiled, "so what's got into you last night?" Vivian motioned Zoe to sit down next to her on the bed. "I'm not sure." Vivian answered truthfully, because she really wasn't. She started because of initial shock, but she couldn't really remember why it got so out of hand.

"Everything okay with you and Charles?"Zoe asked curiously and Vivian nodded, "Yeah". "Harley?" Vivian had to chuckle when she said, "misses Wade, surprisingly." Zoe shifted uncomfortably and signed ,"yeah, that's the thing with Wade, only know what you had, when you've lost it." Zoe didn't know why she said that. She definitely did not intended to, but sometimes words just came out of her mouth. She didn't dare to look Vivian in the eyes and was genuinely surprised when she felt Vivian's hand on her shoulder. "You haven't lost him."

Zoe was getting nervous now and uncomfortable. "What makes you say that?" Vivian answered with a soft voice "Zoe, I know. Joel told me." Zoe got up from the bed and started pacing around the room. "I... It's... I never..." she started to ramble not sure what to say. "Zoe, it's okay. I understand." Zoe took a deep breath and then turned to Vivian, "you do?" Vivian nodded slowly and then said, "I do, but maybe we should cross Wade off our list of conversation topics?" Zoe sat back on the bed, "yes, please. So we're good?" "We're good," Vivian confirmed, "actually I was thinking about introducing you to a new Wilkes tradition" "Oh! What kind of tradition?" Zoe started to get exited and Vivian shifted nervously and asked almost tentative,"any chance you get the next week off?" Zoe looked confused, "why?" "I wanna show you something" "A whole week?" "Why not? Look, Charles and Harley need some father son time. And I guess you could need a break, too" Vivian eyed her suspiciously, Zoe didn't exactly looked convinced so Vivian continued, "so this is the perfect time for me to take you to the Wilkes cabin. 40 miles up north from here."

Zoe was still a bit confused about the sudden and entirely unexpected proposition of a vacation,"I don't know." Vivian on the other hand had lost all her initial nervousness. "Aw, come on Zoe. Why not? I'm sure Brick can cover the practice for a week." "It's not that. Don't you thing that would be weird?" "Weird? Why? Because we both have a soft spot for Wade? All the Wilkes do, it's a family trait." Vivian laughed and Zoe joined.

Maybe going away for a couple of days wasn't such a bad idea. Things could cool down a bit and Zoe could come up with a plan, how to win Wade over. "Okay. Why not." Zoe finally agreed with a huge smile. "Great. I go sweet talk Brick into letting you go and you start packing." Vivian jumped off the bed and headed to the door. "Nothing fancy though," she called over her shoulder and left.

**xXx**

"I still can't believe I agreed to this!" Wade mumbled whilst driving out of Bluebell. "Why not? You're my best Bluebellian friend," Joel stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, thanks Joel," Wade said sarcastically, "but I still don't see you as a hunting type." "That's why you're gonna teach me." Wade still didn't looked convinced so Joel continued, "Come on Wade. It's my last chance to do something really country and totally manly, before I move to London and also you didn't see me as a fishing type either, but you taught me and we had some good times." "Okay. Gotta give you that, but come on I bet you didn't know meat comes from dead animals til you were like 15." Wade shot Joel a pointed look and he admitted defeated, "13 and I became vegetarian for two weeks after that." Wade just laughed.

**xXx**

"We arrived," Vivian announced as she stopped the car in front of a little wooden cabin. "Wow, this looks really nice. A little isolated, maybe?" "Well, that's kind of the point of a cabin. The men use it for hunting trips, and apparently hunting works better in the wilderness," Vivian explained smiling slightly at her cousin. Zoe mimicked Vivian's smile and said, "yeah, never seen someone hunting deer in New York, well outside of the mental ward, anyway." "What?" Vivian asked somewhat between shocked and surprised and Zoe answered looking like she was completely lost in the memory, "when I did my psych rotation, there was an elderly gentlemen, who thought he was in the woods and hunting. One time he mistook a nurse for a bear. Haven't see him since." "Ah, okay. Well let's get inside." Vivian and Zoe got out of the car, got their bags from the trunk and went inside.

"Well, this sure looks like a hunting cabin" Zoe said looking around. Vivian followed Zoe's gaze and explained, "I think the only thing that's not at least 30 years old, is the kettle and of course some of the photos on the visitors wall." "Visitors wall?", Zoe was getting curious and turned to look at Vivian. "Yeah, it's a tradition. Don't know who started it. Basically just photos of people, who stayed here." Vivian pointed towards a wall covered in photographs. Zoe put her bag down and walked over there. She looked at the photographs curiously.

"I think there are some of Harley," Vivian said. Zoe started to smile. "I found one of Harley and Brando," Zoe shouted exited and Vivian walked over to join her. "That must be 40 years ago. They're still so young," Vivian smiled softly, "if you find one of Harley you like, you can keep it." "Really?" Something about the prospect of owning a new picture of her father exited her, and at the same time it put her mind at ease, because it made her feel a little closer to the father she never knew. So when Vivian assured her that it was fine, if she took a picture from the visitors wall, Zoe's emotions took over and she just hugged Vivian tightly and thanked her at least three times. After Vivian had freed herself she said, "why don't you get into family history, while I drive down to the generator? Turn on the power." "Yeah, sure", Zoe answered already concentrating on finding pictures of her father. Vivian walked to the door, turned around one last time, smiled softly at the sight of Zoe scrutinizing the visitors wall and left the cabin.

So far Zoe had found another picture of Harley and Brando when they were even younger and one of Harley and Brick, she considered taking it for a moment, but then her eyes caught glimpse of another picture. She slowly reached out to take it of the wall, a genuine smile spreading across her lips. There was Harley sitting on the bench in front of the cabin, but Harley wasn't alone, Earl was sitting next to him, and so was a little boy, maybe four years old. Harley's right hand was gently placed on the little boy's shoulder in the same way Earl hand his left hand on another boy's shoulder. He was a little older. Zoe laughed a little, Jesse and Wade sure did look alike when they were children. She looked more intensely at Wade. Until now she hadn't seen any pictures of him as a child. He had been cute, but she hadn't really expected anything else. Even as a four year old he had that look of hidden glee and mischief on his face, the same look he still got, when he was up to something he wasn't supposed to, but knew he would succeed anyway. She was definitely keeping this picture, and she had to ask Earl what happened after the picture was taken. Nothing good probably.

With a last look at the Visitors wall Zoe walked back to her bag, the photograph of Wade and her father still in her hand. She took her bag and carried into one of the bedrooms. It was a small room. A bed, two nightstands, a drawer and a closet, all dark wooden furniture. She put the picture down on one of the nightstands and sat down on the bed. She could really picture Harley spending his summer vacation here. She smiled, until now she hadn't been sure, if it had been such a good idea to go on vacation with Vivian, but now she was looking forward to it. Vivian probably could tell her some stories about Harley and this place.


End file.
